Russia eyes light version of the BrahMos cruise missile for its PAK FA fighter jet

Posted On
Tuesday, 31 January 2017 10:34

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World Defense & Security News - Russia

Russia eyes light version of the BrahMos cruise missile for its PAK FA fighter jet

The BrahMos light cruise missile will be mounted both in submarines’ torpedo launchers and on Russia’s fifth-generation T-50 PAK FA (Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation) fighter jet, CEO and General Designer of the Machine-Building R&D Consortium Alexander Leonov said on Friday.

A mock up of the BrahMos-NG/M light cruise missile showcased at Defexpo 2016

"We are working on the missile’s light version. It should fit the size of a torpedo tube and be almost 1.5 times smaller by its weight. It will be possible to mount our airborne missile on a wide range [of aircraft]. Of course, we’ll be developing it, first of all, for the fifth-generation plane but, possibly, it will be mounted on the MiG-35 fighter, although we have not carried out such developments," he said.

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is the product of Russia’s Machine-Building Research and Development Consortium and India’s Defense Research and Development Organization, which set up BrahMos Aerospace joint venture in 1998. In Sept. 2016, Russia also announced its interest to purchase the air-launched version of the cruise missile to arm the Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jet.

The missile’s name comes from the names of two rivers: the Indian Brahmaputra of and the Russian Moscow river. The missile has a range of 290 km and carries a warhead weighing from 200 to 300 kg.